It’s night, or at least that’s what it looks like, as there isn’t a single ray of light in this darkness. I was preparing myself for this, because deep down I was picturing this happening.
“What happened!?”
“Wawah, it’s so dark!”
“I can’t see anything!”
The kids start making even more noise, as the room suddenly lost its light completely. Among the confusion, I can hear Ririi’s surprised voice.
“…”
I look up, and see the light-emitting stone that was faintly illuminating the room before has completely abandoned its duty, and took away our vision. I can’t see a single thing. It’s even darker than night.
And the kids’ voices get louder and louder.
“…No…”
Actually, that’s not quite right.
The light-emitting stone didn’t abandon its duties. I’m pretty sure it’s still releasing the magic energy inside it in the form of light. But if that’s the case, why are we in complete darkness?
Because…
“Wah!?”
A big star appears in front of me.
A light so bright that it feels like a hallucination attacking us. I squint my eyes after they get used to this light, and I see the crystal next to Ririi shining brightly. That light indicates that she has light aptitude, and it’s a color that should normally appear with one of the five main elements.
I look up again, and see the light-emitting stone is shining again. So it really isn’t broken or anything.
The light it was emitting… Was being sucked away. The same thing happened when I was there.
“…White light. Apparently you have light aptitude.”
“Light?”
“Yes, the light of a kind sorcerer.”
“Light? So Ririh can help daddy?”
“Of course.”
“Yay! Ririh’s gonna be a light sorcerer!”
Ririi jumps down from the step with a happy expression on her face.
She doesn’t feel suspicious that her teacher isn’t mentioning the blackout at all, and the other kids also look like they think it was some sort of accident or something, and don’t make a big deal out of it.
“…So that’s it uh…”
The description of high elves I read a long time ago mentioned they can use all kinds of magic. And special elements can’t be used by someone without aptitude for them.
Naturally, if they can use all magic, that means they need to have aptitude for those two elements, meaning this outcome was inevitable.
Ririi has both light and darkness aptitude.
◆
“This turned into a problem… I kind of got the feeling this would happen.”
“Yes. This would have to happen, if that description in the magic book wasn’t false.”
Miss Esmeralda and I are the only ones left here, as the kids all went back to the classroom, and we’re looking at each other with troubled expressions on our faces. We’re talking about Ririi’s darkness aptitude.
“Well, maybe it won’t be a problem… This school doesn’t have anyone that can teach darkness magic anyway.”
Darkness magic is a special element, meaning it can’t be used without the right aptitude, but there aren’t many records of people that could use it in the long history of the capital. Naturally, that means there aren’t any teachers who can teach it either.
That means even if a student does have darkness aptitude, it’s still not going to be possible to learn darkness magic. I know that all too well.
“…Ririi doesn’t even know she has darkness aptitude. And she won’t notice it unless someone tells her.”
“Unless someone tells her…”
Her sharp eyes are piercing through me.
…So that’s why she stopped me from leaving.
“…Weiss, how much do you know about darkness magic?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. When you get to be like me, you can tell pretty much by just looking. Your magic energy is very muddy… A characteristic of darkness magic users.”
“…You saw through me uh? I really can’t win against you.”
“Don’t flatter me. Listen Weiss… I’m not going to ask how you came to learn darkness magic, at least not now, but you must absolutely not teach her darkness magic. I’m sure you know how darkness magic users are seen in the capital.”
“I know. I just want Ririi to live in peace.”
I say as I turn around.
She doesn’t stop me, so I end up not knowing if she saw through my lie.
After I leave, the sunlight entering through the windows of this long hallway shines brightly and warms the air around me. It’s a little too much for my body that’s used to darkness, so I squint a little. Sometimes the darkness of the night feels more comfortable than the sun.
“…To live a peaceful life, you need power.”
For people living in Zenith, that’s about as obvious as saying night will come after the sun sets.
A surviving high elf like Ririi is going to need to be strong to be able to live in peace. That’s why I enrolled her in magic school. She needs to get strong enough to protect herself.
One day, probably not in the near future, I’m going to teach her darkness magic. I know it. I wouldn’t have to if she didn’t have the aptitude, and that’s why I prayed that she didn’t. But she does, and so there’s only one thing I can do.
“…I’m sure she won’t give me a reason to worry.”
Not all darkness magic users are bad.
…Well, maybe they are, but Ririi is going to be the full stop in that evil history.
I’ll teach her darkness magic, but I won’t let her turn bad.
I think that’s part of my job as a parent.
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He at first wanted her to be his successor, but after raising her, he wanted her happiness more than anything. He really soften up
He’s smart man. You don’t just ignore things until they become a problem.